Israeli Writer: Israel Is Proof The NRA Is Right

If we step aside from our cynicism at a time like this, we can probably assume that everyone on the planet wants to see the end of mass shootings. The few that don’t are generally the sick bastards who are planning the next ones. While there are plenty of opportunists who are seizing the moment following such horrific events, I’d like to believe that even they would prefer to see the end of such attacks.

Many people have pointed to Israel as proof of how gun control should be. The Jewish state, that is otherwise an anathema to the left, has some pretty strict gun laws, making it a role model for us to consider, some argue.

Gun rights advocates contend that the way to stop mass shootings is by ensuring that there are always well-armed citizens present who can neutralize the shooter. As NRA chairman Wayne Lapierre always says, “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun”. A bedrock of the NRA’s philosophy is that criminals will always acquire guns illegally, and draconian gun laws only render law-abiding citizens defenseless.

Enter Israel: When the knife intifada erupted in September 2015, the Israeli government’s response was to ease the process for the civilian populace to obtain weapons. After a particularly bloody Jerusalem shooting attack that killed four, then-Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan drastically changed the gun laws in order to significantly raise the number of armed civilians on the streets. Instantly, graduates of Special Forces units and IDF officers with the rank of Lieutenant and above were permitted to purchase guns at their will, security guards were allowed to bring their guns home after work, and the minimum age for a license was reduced from 21 to 18.

Erdan explained that “civilians well trained in the use of weapons provide reinforcement in the struggle against terrorism”, while Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat called for every resident to carry a gun, and was even photographed traveling the city carrying a Glock 23.

In addition, the overwhelming majority of terror attacks in Israel are stopped by armed civilians, not law enforcement. For example, the terrorists in the 2016 Sarona market attack were stopped by armed passersby. A pistol-carrying tour guide put an end to the 2017 ramming attack in Arnona that left four soldiers dead.

In Israeli eyes, guns are a valuable deterrent against terrorism. In fact, terrorists have told the Shin Bet internal security service that they often target haredi Jews due to the high likelihood that they are unarmed.

Gun control supporters would answer that the mandatory military service that every Israeli undergoes justifies the trust Israel has of its citizens. However, this argument doesn’t hold water. The vast majority of IDF soldiers aren’t combat soldiers and are certified as 02 riflemen. To be 02 requires one to shoot between 40 and 70 bullets. The pistol course needed to obtain a license takes less than four hours. It is a far cry from the highly trained population that the Left imagines.

In other words, more guns meant fewer attacks.

This isn’t rocket science. If a would-be attacker is planning something, the last thing he or she really wants is to get there and find themselves outgunned. That’s a possibility everywhere except gun free zones, which is why more than 90 percent of all mass shootings take place in gun free zones.

Proof of that can come from the most recent attack we know of that wasn’t necessarily a gun free zone: Las Vegas. In that shooting, the killer created a plan where he would negate any number of armed citizen due to distance. He didn’t want to get shot dead early in his rampage, so he planned accordingly.

Most shooters don’t get that kind of opportunity. They have to operate differently because they lack the Las Vegas killer’s resources. So, they go for gun free zones.